“You have heard the law that says, ‘Love your neighbor’ and hate your enemy. But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you!” (Matthew 5:43-44NLT).
Today, there are hundreds and hundreds of watered-down phrases for not loving other people. “Oh, I love Anthony in the Lord, but I don’t like his mannerisms… Rudy is alright, but he is so hard to get to know… John has emotional problems and Samuel comes from a low social background… I like Kenny alright, but not sure if I love him as a friend though…” [Dear buddies, I’m using your names for an example. Jangan marah a…]. All these phrases are but a bunch of excuses to avoid loving other people. We all once in a while are guilty of breaking this clear direct to the point commandment.
In the sight of God it is all hypocrisy. Jesus never said in His Word, “Love your brothers and sisters if he or she have a good mannerism, well-dressed, zealous, a soul-winner… love them if they loves you back” No! Jesus told us in the famous Sermon of the Mount that real love does not begin until we love our enemies – “But I say, love your enemies!” And if it is not enough to just gives command (even though it was sufficient to do so since He is the Lord over all creations) to us – He displayed it on the Cross. The Scripture says, “God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners” (Romans 5:8) That mean, while we were still His enemies, He die for us. The Cross is the solid proof of His eternal Word, an apex of commitment for His love for us and thus for us to joyfully obey His command to love our enemies.
This whole concept of loving our enemies is, for the average person of today, nothing but an outdated theological phase, a wall-picture for ‘Pharisees’ of today to display in their Facebook pages, a great quote for ‘Scribes’ to twit on their Twitter accounts – but the fact is, for many people, it seem so impossible for the human nature to attain that it is never taken seriously, even among Christians. We read and read and read “Love your enemies” and say and preach and share but we know nothing of it. Nothing of really loving a man who cannot tolerate us, who speaks evil of us, spites us, those who does not like us or the way we do things. More often, as for me, we cannot love even the people around us with whom we live and work daily.
There was a young man who often told me that he loved everybody. I replied, “Bro, you not telling the truth aren’t you?” He doesn’t think much about what I had just said. He insisted that he loved everybody (This is the kind of respond you’ll get when you ask young people today: “How are you?” They will automatically answer you, “Dahsyat luar biasa! Yes! Yes! Yes!”). I happened to know of at least one person to whom he didn’t bother to say ‘hi’ to every time he meet that someone at Christian gathering. He could pass this person several times without showing any gesture of kindness – not even a smile. I asked sarcastically, “Do you really love everybody? How about him?” He said, “Of course bro I do loves everybody… well, except him.”
Do you get my point here? Had you been like that to your enemies lately? Friends, don’t let God’s Word to be filled only in the head. There is no real love without action! Potentially he may have loved him. Theoretically he may have loved him. But it was not a reality. To joyfully obey God’s Word to “love your enemies” requires head and hands, mind and heart, knowledge and action – not a bullet to the head; dead and static. Floyd McClung writes, “The Scriptures teach that we cannot live the Christian life with integrity unless we love people when they are impossible to get along with. The challenge is to love and keep on loving, even when it is hard”.
This Valentine’s Day, would you once again learn to love the unlovable? Would you stop shooting “bullets” to the head – dead and static, and start to living and doing the Word of God? Would you take the challenge to be serious and radically different by “love(ing) your enemies”? Would you trust Him, as you surrender your life to Him, as you reflect His blood flows for His enemies on the Cross, as you depend on the work of the Holy Spirit in your life? Would you take this challenge to “love your enemies” this Valentine’s Day?
Jesus said, “You’re familiar with the old written law, ‘Love your friend,’ and its unwritten companion, ‘Hate your enemy.’ I’m challenging that. I’m telling you to love your enemies. Let them bring out the best in you, not the worst. When someone gives you a hard time, respond with the energies of prayer, for then you are working out of your true selves, your God-created selves… In a word, what I’m saying is, Grow up. You’re kingdom subjects. Now live like it. Live out your God-created identity. Live generously and graciously toward others, the way God lives toward you.” (Matthew 5:43-45, 48, The Message)
THINK BIG. START SMALL. GO DEEP.
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